GERMANY and Sweden renewed calls for a Europe-wide refugee quota system yesterday, even as Hungary vowed to speed up construction of a border fence to keep migrants out.

“We need binding quotas for refugees who have the right to asylum so they are fairly distributed according to strict principles among the member states,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after meeting Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is expected to put forward a proposal for a quota system today, which Ms Merkel said would be a first step, though a final agreement was probably still far off.